Calville Blanc d’Hiver, a 16th-century apple originating in France (Bar Lois Weeks photo)

I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE that I have signed a contract with The Countryman Press to write a new book about apples. Tentatively titled, A Field Guide to New England Apples, it will be modeled on an Audubon guide, with individual pages for 150 apple varieties grown or sold in New England. The new book will be ideal for visitors to orchard, farm stand, or grocery store, with lots of information about history, flavors, best uses, characteristics, availability, and ripening times.

In addition to the apple descriptions, the Field Guide will include chapters on the history of apple growing in the region, and horticultural background. The photographs of the varieties will be by Bar Lois Weeks, who took photographs for America’s Apple.

The book is expected during the summer of 2014.

Vermont’s oldest name in publishing, The Countryman Press began in Taftsville, Vermont, in 1973, and in 1996 became a division of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., the country’s oldest and largest publishing house owned by its employees. The Countryman Press retains editorial and production offices in Woodstock, Vermont.

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America’s Apple, a comprehensive look at apple growing in the United States, can be purchased as either a hardcover or ebook at select orchards and independent bookstores or online at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, or silverstreetmedia.com.

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Next up: I will give a talk on early apple growing in America, at the Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary in Wales, Massachusetts, Saturday, April 20, at 1:30 p.m. (rescheduled from February 9). The event is free. I will have copies of America’s Apple available for purchase and signing.

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2013 New England Apples wall calendar

Bar Lois Weeks and I also collaborated on 2012 and 2013 New England Apples wall calendars, with images from the region’s orchards, and information about varieties and the orchards that grow them.

We still have a few of the 2013 calendars left; if you are interested send $5 for shipping and handling to New England Apple Association, PO Box 41, Hatfield, MA 01038.